John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMarch 12, 20255 Min ReadDragos Condrea via Alamy Stock PhotoTeams occasionally generate a certain amount of internal friction, and development staffs are no exception. Yet, when managed properly, team friction can actually be turned into a motivating force.Developer team friction can become a positive driving force when it encourages diverse perspectives, promotes critical thinking, fosters innovation, and improves communication skills, observes JB McGinnis, a principal with Deloitte Consulting. "Constructive disagreements can lead to more robust solutions, continuous improvement, and stronger team cohesion," he explains in an email interview. "By tapping into and exploring this friction positively, teams can enhance performance and drive innovation."Friction can be a fantastic driver for positive change, states Andy Miears, a director with technology research and advisory firm ISG. "When members of a development team are at odds with each other, it often indicates some degree of inefficiency, lack of work product quality, a poor working environment, or unclear roles and responsibilities," he says via email. "Using friction as a compelling way to identify, prioritize, and address pain points is a healthy behavior for any high-performing team."Multiple BenefitsDeveloper team friction, while often seen as a negative trait, can actually become a positive force under certain conditions, McGinnis says. "Friction can enhance problem-solving abilities by highlighting weaknesses in current processes or solutions," he explains. "It prompts the team to address these issues, thereby improving their overall problem-solving skills."Related:Team friction often occurs when a developer passionately advocates a new approach or solution. That's generally a good thing, notes Stew Beck, director of engineering at work product management solutions provider iManage. "When team members have conflicting ideas, you naturally end up with some friction -- it's something you want to have on every team," he says via email. If team members aren't advocating their own ideas, there's a risk they're not fully engaged in the problem. "Without friction, teams could be missing out on a way to make the product better."Allowing team friction in a controlled and safe way helps everyone. "Team members can challenge ideas, ways of accomplishing a task, encourage better results, and hold each other accountable to shared objectives, standards and processes," Miears says.Team seniority and status shouldn't matter. "The best ideas don't always come from the most senior person in the room," Beck observes. Yet failing to encourage open discussions, regardless of rank, risks overlooking something important that could cost the team, and the entire enterprise, later.Related:Channeling FrictionTo channel friction into positive results, the team leader should encourage balanced and constructive productive feedback. "Additionally, the leader should commit to creating an environment that's open to a wide set of opinions, where teammates are encouraged to share their thoughts," McGinnis advises.The team leader should schedule regular meetings with their development team to identify what's currently working and, more importantly, what may be failing. "In a mature Agile development framework, retrospectives should take part at the end of every sprint," Miears recommends. Larger retrospectives, meanwhile, should be scheduled at the end of releases or program increments. "These sessions should be used to create new, better, or more efficient value for users, stakeholders and the overall team."Maintaining ControlTeam leaders should set clear expectations and goals for all members. "These objectives should be defined for both the team as a whole and for individual members," McGinnis says. Leading by example is also critical. "As a leader, you are a reflection of your team, so demonstrating the handling of conflicts with a professional demeanor, while showing empathy, goes a long way."Related:Friction can easily spiral out of control when retrospectives and feedback focus on individuals instead of addressing issues and problems jointly as a team. "Staying solution-oriented and helping each other achieve collective success for the sake of the team, should always be the No. 1 priority," Miears says. "Make it a safe space."As a leader it's important to empower every team member to speak up, Beck advises. Each team member has a different and unique perspective. "For instance, you could have one brilliant engineer who rarely speaks up, but when they do its important that people listen," he says. "At other times, you may have an outspoken member on your team who will speak on every issue and argue for their point, regardless of the situation." Staying in tune with these differences and quirks helps to foster a healthy discussion environment.Parting ThoughtTeam building is a great way to ensure a safe team when friction arises, Miears says. "Celebrate successes and individual accomplishments together, he recommends. "Do the work to build a safe and inclusive culture in which the team can thrive."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

Mary E. Shacklett, President of Transworld DataMarch 12, 20257 Min ReadimageBROKER.com via Alamy Stock When I was a junior programmer/analyst on my first IT job, I was working with a programmer-mentor named Bob who was teaching me to code subroutines. The days conversation got around to the CIO, and Bob unexpectedly said, That guys nothing more than a pencil pusher. He doesnt have a clue about what were doing!Bobs words stuck with me, especially after I became a CIO. I kept thinking about the side conversations that happen in cubicles. I determined that although it wasnt my business as a CIO to code, I would make it my business to stay atop technology details so I could actively interact with my technical staff members in a value-added way. I decided to also learn how to communicate about technology at a plain English top level with other executives and board members.Staying on top of technology at a detailed level isnt easy for CIOs who have a broad range of responsibilities to fulfill. Meanwhile, it's crucial to be able to articulate complicated tech in plain English to superiors who lack a tech background when your own strength might be in science and engineering, but not in public speaking.Nevertheless, its absolutely essential for CIOs to do both, or they risk losing the respect of their superiors and their staff.Here are three tech deep dives that CIOs must make in 2025 so they can meet the technology expectations of their superiors and staffs:SecuritySecurity worries corporate boards. Its a key IT responsibility, and as cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, preventing them is becoming more than just monitoring the periphery of the network and conducting security audits. Using traditional security analysts who are generalized in their knowledge also might not suffice.Enter technologies like network and system observability, which can probe beyond monitoring, drilling down to security threat root causes and interpretations of events based upon the relationships between data points and access points. Youll have to break down the concept of observability and possibly the evolution of new tech roles in security for the board and executives who will be asked to fund them.On the IT staff side, implementing observability will be a topic of technical discussion. There may also be a need to discuss new security roles and positions. For instance, in sensitive industries like finance, law enforcement, healthcare or aerospace, you may need a cyberthreat hunter who seeks out malware that may be dormant and embedded in systems, only waiting to be activated. Or, it may be time for a security forensics specialist who can get to the bottom of a breach to identify the perpetrator. These are positions that are more specialized than security analyst. You may have to develop the skillsets for cyberhunting or forensics internally or seek them outside. Adding these roles could force a realignment of duties on the IT security staff, and it will be important for you to work closely with your staff.Generative and Agentive AICompanies are flocking to invest in AI, with boards and CEOs wanting to know about it, and the data science and IT departments want direction on it.Generative AI is the most common AI used, but how many boards know what Gen AI is, and how it works? Meanwhile, agentive AI, in which AI not only makes decisions but acts upon them, is coming into view.Both forms of AI can dramatically impact business strategies, customer relationships, business processes and employee headcount. CEOs and boards need to know about these forms of AI, what they are capable of doing, where the risks are, and what the impact could be. They will come to the CIO for information. They dont need to know about every nut and bolt, but they do need enough working knowledge so they can understand the technology at a conceptual business level.On the IT and data science staff side, generative AI engines must operate on quality data from a variety of external and internal feeds that must be vetted. In some cases, ETL (extract-transform-load) software must be used to clean and normalize the data. The technical approach to doing this needs to be discussed and implemented. It is a plus for everyone if the CIO partakes in some of these meetings.With agentive AI, there should be discussions about technology readiness and ethical guardrails as to just how much autonomous work AI should be allowed to perform on its own.For all AI, security and refresh cycles for data need to be defined and executed, and the algorithms operating on the data must be trialed and tuned.Collectively, these activities require project approval and budget allotments, so it is in the staffs and CIOs best interests that they get discussed technically so the nature of the work, its challenges and opportunities are clearly understood by all.NaaSWeve heard of IaaS (infrastructure as a service), SaaS (software as a service) and PaaS (platform as a service), and now there is NaaS (network as a service). What they have in common is that they are all cloud services. The intent is to shift IT functions to the cloud so you have less direct responsibility for managing them in-house.Boards and C-level executives are attracted to cloud services because they perceive the cloud as being less expensive, easier to manage, and a way to avoid investing in technology that will be obsolete three years later.But now there is NaaS, which most of them havent heard about. Just what is NaaS (network outsourcing), and what does it do for the company? They will ask the CIO to explain it.On the IT side, if youre discussing NaaS, there are decisions to be made as to how much (if any) of the network youre willing to outsource. Also, if you did outsource, what will be the impact on cost, management, security, bandwidth, application integration service levels.The discussion can get into the weeds of the technology, and the CIO should be prepared to go there.The Quandary for the CIOThe quandary the CIO faces is that he or she cant be all things to all people but is often expected to be. Its why once over lunch, the CFO of my company told me, Im sure glad Im not doing your job. It seems impossible!There were days when I thought so, too! There were days when I spent the majority of my time doing what my old mentor Bob complained about: pencil pushing, for budget justifications, headcount increases, security and compliance reporting, and vendor negotiations. There were also days spent in meetings with other C-level managers to explain new technologies so the path could be smoothed for IT project work with a minimum of user resistance.All of these CIO tasks are necessary, but the IT staff doesnt see them.I understood this, and I also understood that my own staff had expectations. One of them was that I kept my technology chops sharp so I could engage with them in a manner Bob would approve. This is work! I thought to myself, But you must do both.About the AuthorMary E. ShacklettPresident of Transworld DataMary E. Shacklett is an internationally recognized technology commentator and President of Transworld Data, a marketing and technology services firm. Prior to founding her own company, she was Vice President of Product Research and Software Development for Summit Information Systems, a computer software company; and Vice President of Strategic Planning and Technology at FSI International, a multinational manufacturer in the semiconductor industry.Mary has business experience in Europe, Japan, and the Pacific Rim. She has a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MA from the University of Southern California, where she taught for several years. She is listed in Who's Who Worldwide and inWho's Who in the Computer Industry.See more from Mary E. ShacklettWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Everyone in AI is talking about Manus. We put it to the test. Since the general AI agent Manus was launched last week, it has spread online like wildfire. And not just in China, where it was developed by the Wuhan-based startup Butterfly Effect. Its made its way into the global conversation, with some even dubbing it the second DeepSeek. Manus claims to be the world's first general AI agent, building off multiple AI models and agents to act autonomously on a wide range of tasks. Despite all the hype, very few people have had a chance to use it. MIT Technology Review was able to obtain access to Manus. Heres what we made of it.Caiwei Chen Waabi says its virtual robotrucks are realistic enough to prove the real ones are safe The news: Canadian robotruck startup Waabi says its super-realistic virtual simulation is now accurate enough to prove the safety of its driverless big rigs without having to run them for miles on real roads.How it did it: The company uses a digital twin of its real-world robotrucks, loaded up with real sensor data, and measures how the twin's performance compares to that of real trucks on real roads. Waabi says they now match almost exactly, and claims its approach is a better way to demonstrate safety than just racking up real-world miles, as many of its competitors do. Read the full story. Will Douglas Heaven This artificial leaf makes hydrocarbons out of carbon dioxide For many years, researchers have been working to build devices that can mimic photosynthesisthe process by which plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make their fuel. These artificial leaves use sunlight to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen, which could then be used to fuel cars or generate electricity. Now a research team from the University of Cambridge has taken aim at creating more energy-dense fuels. The groups device produces ethylene and ethane, proving that artificial leaves can create hydrocarbons. The development could offer a cheaper, cleaner way to make fuels, chemicals, and plasticswith the ultimate goal of creating fuels that dont leave a harmful carbon footprint after theyre burned. Read the full story. Carly Kay This startup just hit a big milestone for green steel production Green-steel startup Boston Metal just showed that it has all the ingredients needed to make steel without emitting gobs of greenhouse gases. The company successfully ran its largest reactor yet to make steel, producing over a ton of metal, MIT Technology Review can exclusively report. The latest milestone means that Boston Metal just got one step closer to commercializing its technology. And while there are still a lot of milestones left before reaching the scale needed to make a dent in the steel industry, the latest run shows that the company can scale up its process. Read the full story. Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US has resumed aid deliveries to Ukraine Leaders have also agreed to start sharing military intelligence again. (The Guardian)+ Ukraine also endorsed a US proposal for a ceasefire. (Vox)+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraines drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)2 Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on metal imports The decision is likely to raise costs for American carmakers, and other manufacturers. (NYT $)+ Business leaders feel spooked by his frequent mixed messaging around tariffs. (WSJ $)+ However, US-native metal makers are delighted by the tariffs. (Economist $)+ How Trumps tariffs could drive up the cost of batteries, EVs, and more. (MIT Technology Review)3 Texas measles outbreak appears to be spreading Two people in Oklahoma are being treated for measles-like symptoms. (Ars Technica)+ An unvaccinated six-year old girl recently died in Texas. (The Atlantic $)+ The state is scrambling to respond to the outbreak. (Undark)+ The virus is extremely contagious and dangerous to children and adults alike. (Wired $)4 Elon Musk wants the US government to shut down Partly because it would make it easier to fire federal workers. (Wired $)+ A judge has ruled that DOGE must comply with the Freedom of Information Act. (The Verge)+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? Its complex. (MIT Technology Review) 5 OpenAI says its trained an AI to be really good at creative writing| The question is, can a model trained on existing material ever be truly creative? (TechCrunch)+ AI can make you more creativebut it has limits. (MIT Technology Review)6 Silicon Valleys AI startups are expanding in IndiaTalent is plentiful, particularly in tech hub Bangalore. (Bloomberg $) 7 Spotify claims it paid $10 billion in royalties last yearIt called the payout the largest in music industry history. (FT $) + How to break free of Spotifys algorithm. (MIT Technology Review)8 Saturn has more moons than the rest of the planets combined Researchers have finally spotted new moons that have previously evaded detection. (New Scientist $)9 This coffee shop is New Yorks hottest AI spot Handily, OpenAIs office is just across the street. (Insider $)10 Netflix shouldnt use AI to upscale resolution The technology left sitcom A Different World looking freakishly warped. (Vice)Quote of the day The uncertainty is just as bad as tariffs themselves. Donald Schneider, deputy head of US policy at investment bank Piper Sandler, explains to the Washington Post why investors are feeling rattled by Donald Trumps volatile approach to imposing tariffs. The big story Can Afghanistans underground sneakernet survive the Taliban? November 2021 When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Mohammad Yasin had to make some difficult decisions very quickly. He began erasing some of the sensitive data on his computer and moving the rest onto two of his largest hard drives, which he then wrapped in a layer of plastic and buried underground. Yasin is what is locally referred to as a computer kar: someone who sells digital content by hand in a country where a steady internet connection can be hard to come by, selling everything from movies, music, mobile applications, to iOS updates. And despite the dangers of Taliban rule, the countrys extensive sneakernet isnt planning on shutting down. Read the full story. Ruchi Kumar We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + Check out these novels inspired by what it means to be middle-aged.+ After a long absence, its looking like the Loch Ness Monster is staging its return.+ Chappell Roan, you are just fantastic.+ An AI stylist telling me what to wear? No thanks.

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Green-steel startup Boston Metal just showed that it has all the ingredients needed to make steel without emitting gobs of greenhouse gases. The company successfully ran its largest reactor yet to make steel, producing over a ton of metal, MIT Technology Review can exclusively report. The latest milestone means that Boston Metal just got one step closer to commercializing its technology. The companys process uses electricity to make steel, and depending on the source of that electricity, it could mean cleaning up production of one of the most polluting materials on the planet. The world produces about 2 billion metric tons of steel each year, emitting over 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in the process. While there are still a lot of milestones left before reaching the scale needed to make a dent in the steel industry, the latest run shows that the company can scale up its process. Boston Metal started up its industrial reactor for steelmaking in January, and after it had run for several weeks, the company siphoned out roughly a ton of material on February 17. (You can see a video of the molten metal here. Its really cool.) Work on this reactor has been underway for a while. I got to visit the facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, in 2022, when construction was nearly done. In the years since, the company has been working on testing it out to make other metals before retrofitting it for steel production. Boston Metals approach is very different from that of a conventional steel plant. Steelmaking typically involves a blast furnace, which uses a coal-based fuel called coke to drive the reactions needed to turn iron ore into iron (the key ingredient in steel). The carbon in coke combines with oxygen pulled out of the iron ore, which gets released as carbon dioxide. Instead, Boston Metal uses electricity in a process called molten oxide electrolysis (MOE). Iron ore gets loaded into a reactor, mixed with other ingredients, and then electricity is run through it, heating the mixture to around 1,600 C (2,900 F) and driving the reactions needed to make iron. That iron can then be turned into steel. Crucially for the climate, this process emits oxygen rather than carbon dioxide (that infamous greenhouse gas). If renewables like wind and solar or nuclear power are used as the source of electricity, then this approach can virtually cut out the climate impact from steel production. MOE was developed at MIT, and Boston Metal was founded in 2013 to commercialize the technology. Since then, the company has worked to take it from lab scale, with reactors roughly the size of a coffee cup, to much larger ones that can produce tons of metal at a time. Thats crucial for an industry that operates on the scale of billions of tons per year. The volumes of steel everywhere around usits immense, says Adam Rauwerdink, senior vice president of business development at Boston Metal. The scale is massive. BOSTON METAL Making the huge amounts of steel required to be commercially relevant has been quite the technical challenge. One key component of Boston Metals design is the anode. Its basically a rounded metallic bit that sticks into the reactor, providing a way for electricity to get in and drive the reactions required. In theory, this anode doesnt get used up, but if the conditions arent quite right, it can degrade over time. Over the past few years, the company has made a lot of progress in preventing inert anode degradation, Rauwerdink says. The latest phase of work is more complicated, because now the company is adding multiple anodes in the same reactor. In lab-scale reactors, theres one anode, and its quite small. Larger reactors require bigger anodes, and at a certain point its necessary to add more of them. The latest run continues to prove how Boston Metals approach can scale, Rauwerdink says: making reactors larger, adding more anodes, and then adding multiple reactors together in a single plant to make the volumes of material needed. Now that the company has completed its first run of the multi-anode reactor for steelmaking, the plan is to keep exploring how the reactions happen at this larger scale. These runs will also help the company better understand what it will cost to make its products. The next step is to build an even bigger system, Rauwerdink sayssomething that wont fit in the Boston facility. While a reactor of the current size can make a ton or two of material in about a month, the truly industrial-scale equipment will make that amount of metal in about a day. That demonstration plant should come online in late 2026 and begin operation in 2027, he says. Ultimately, the company hopes to license its technology to steelmakers. In steel and other heavy industries, the scale can be mind-boggling. Boston Metal has been at this for over a decade, and its fascinating to see the company make progress toward becoming a player in this massive industry. Now read the rest of The Spark Related reading We named green steel one of our 2025 Breakthrough Technologies. Read more about why here. I visited Boston Metals facility in Massachusetts in 2022read more about the companys technology in this story (Id say it pretty much holds up). Climate tech companies like Boston Metal have seen a second boom period for funding and support following the cleantech crash a decade ago. Read more in this 2023 feature from David Rotman. GETTY Another thing Electricity demand is rising faster in the US than it has in decades, and meeting it will require building new power plants and expanding grid infrastructure. That could be a problem, because its historically been expensive and slow to get new transmission lines approved. New technologies could help in a major way, according to Brian Deese and Rob Gramlich. Read more in this new op-ed. And one more Plants have really nailed the process of making food from sunlight in photosynthesis. For a very long time, researchers have been trying to mimic this process and make an artificial leaf that can make fuels using the suns energy. Now, researchers are aiming to make energy-dense fuels using a specialized, copper-containing catalyst. Read more about the innovation in my colleague Carly Kays latest story. Keeping up with climate Energy storage is still growing quickly in the US, with 18 gigawatts set to come online this year. Thats up from 11 GW in 2024. (Canary Media) Oil companies including Shell, BP, and Equinor are rolling back climate commitments and ramping up fossil-fuel production. Oil and gas companies were accounting for only a small fraction of clean energy investment, so experts say thats not a huge loss. But putting money toward new oil and gas could be bad for emissions. (Grist) Butterfly populations are cratering around the US, dropping by 22% in just the last 20 years. Check out this visualization to see how things are changing where you live. (New York Times) New York Citys congestion pricing plan, which charges cars to enter the busiest parts of the city, is gaining popularity: 42% of New York City residents support the toll, up from 32% in December. (Bloomberg) Heres a reality check for you: Ukraine doesnt have minable deposits of rare earth metals, experts say. While tensions between US and Ukraine leaders ran high in a meeting to discuss a minerals deal, IEEE Spectrum reports that the reality doesnt match the political theater here. (IEEE Spectrum) Quaise Energy has a wild drilling technology that it says could unlock the potential for geothermal energy. In a demonstration, the company recently drilled several inches into a piece of rock using its millimeter-wave technology. (Wall Street Journal) Heres another one for the weird climate change effects file: greenhouse-gas emissions could mean less capacity for satellites. Its getting crowded up there. (Grist) The Biden administration funded agriculture projects related to climate change, and now farmers are getting caught up in the Trump administrations efforts to claw back the money. This is a fascinating case of how the same project can be described with entirely different language depending on political priorities. (Washington Post) You and I are helping to pay for the electricity demands of big data centers. While some grid upgrades are needed just to serve big projects like those centers, the cost of building and maintaining the grid is shared by everyone who pays for electricity. (Heatmap)

2025-03-12T12:32:10Z Read in app New consumer price index data showed what inflation looked like in February. Brandon Bell/Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Inflation cooled more than expected in February.The consumer price index rose 2.8% year over year, under the expected 2.9% rate.Traders think the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady next week.Inflation slowed more than expected last month.The consumer price index, an inflation measure, increased 2.8% year-over-year in February. That's under the forecast of 2.9% and January's rate of 3%.It's a reversal after four consecutive months of inflation heating up and is a step toward the Fed's target."The path to sustainably returning inflation to our target has been bumpy, and we expect that to continue," Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2025 US Monetary Policy Forum.The index rose 0.2% over the month from January to February. That's below the expected 0.3% and the previous 0.5%One of President Donald Trump's priorities in his second term has been trade, with several rounds of threatening or imposing new tariffs on countries like China, Canada, and Mexico. Economists fear that those could raise prices for US consumers, threatening higher inflation in coming months."The focus by the president on tariffs risks reigniting inflation which would be most unfortunate given the progress which has been seen over the past couple of years," Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, previously said in a statement to Business Insider.The Federal Open Market Committee will meet next week to decide whether to change interest rates. Members will likely consider the new consumer price index data and recently published employment figures in their decision-making process. While unemployment has slowly ticked up over the past couple of years, it was still historically low in February, data published Friday showed. Job growth was below expectations in February, and the prime-age labor force participation rate was steady.Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told BI on Friday that the Fed will probably still think the labor market is robust and have time to make rate adjustments. However, job cuts happening in the public sector, tariffs' potential impacts on businesses, and other changes could have an effect.Stahle said the Fed may feel "like their time is running out given how quick a lot of these changes are happening."CME FedWatch, which estimates predictions for Fed interest rates based on market activity, showed traders expect a 97% chance the Fed will hold rates steady later this month.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

2025-03-12T12:18:49Z Read in app Wei joined a gym that offers a wide range of classes and often goes with friends. Leah Wei This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Leah Wei avoided the gym because she felt exercise was just about achieving a certain body type. She realized she was missing out on health benefits, so worked on her relationship with exercise.Wei now sees moving daily as an opportunity to have fun and see her friends. When Leah Wei, a 27-year-old YouTuber based in New York, learned that the body naturally starts to lose muscle mass at age 30, she knew she had to get over her fear of working out.She had sworn off the gym years before because she had negative associations with exercise, she told Business Insider. These came from growing up seeing images of Victoria's Secret models and magazine covers emblazoned with phrases like "get abs quick."It felt like exercise was about pushing yourself to look a certain way, Wei said. When she didn't see the aesthetic results fitness influencers promised, it left her feeling bad about her body.To preserve her self-esteem, Wei decided to abandon exercise and accept her body as it was. "I didn't want to have that relationship with my body, with movement," she said.But as time went on, she realized that she was missing out on the health benefits of exercise. Her neck and shoulders felt tight from sitting at a screen all day, she felt lethargic in the colder months, and became aware maintaining muscle as you age was important for staying strong and mobile.In January 2023, Wei decided it was time to give working out another go. But this time she wanted it to be sustainable, and to prioritize how it made her feel, not how it made her look.Now, she exercises every day, either going to a class or hitting the gym, because she genuinely enjoys it. She shared three ways she makes working out a joy. Leah Wei now goes to the gym twice a week. Leah Wei 1) Reframing 'exercise' as 'movement'Wei likes to think about exercise as an opportunity to move her body, get away from her laptop, and have fun. "It's a rebrand to this is just a really fun part of your day and something I love to do," she said.Rather than having a strict routine or schedule, she decides what kind of movement she'll do each day based on her mood. She's a member of a rock climbing gym that offers a wide range of classes from classic to aerial yoga and circus skills and often tries new activities.Wei likened her new attitude toward working out to going to a playground as a child. "You're never like 'oh I have to go outside to play for recess because it improves my sleep, or increases my metabolism. You're kind of just there because it's fun,'" she said.Wei also has a gym in her building, where she aims to strength train twice a week with free weights.2) Marrying movement with socializingExercising with a friend makes it even more fun, Wei said, and it helps her to balance different parts of her life.She convinced three of her friends to join her rock climbing gym and they typically go together at least once a week or bump into each other there. "I think if your friends are all going climbing, it's more motivating for you too," she said.And it means she gets to exercise and see the people she loves at the same time. "I'll hit up friends and be like, 'do you wanna go Friday night or Sunday or Saturday morning' and people are usually down," she said. Wei likened her rock climbing gym to an adult playground. Leah Wei 3) Join a gym you want to spend time in every dayWei's gym has big windows and a pretty view, which she said has helped her build the habit of going almost daily as it's a space she likes to spend time in."If I invest in a space that I think is really welcoming and warm, it makes me want to go there every day," she said.Studios like this tend to be more expensive than a basic gym, but Wei is happy to spend her money this way. "I don't care as much about makeup or clothing or purses or whatever but I'm like, this is really worth it for me," she said.

Donald Trump turning the White House into a Tesla showroom aside, things are looking pretty grim for the electric car company right now. The stock has dropped tremendously. There have been reports of Tesla chargers being burned, people vandalizing cars, people flipping Tesla drivers off, breaking glass at Tesla showrooms. There have also been very spirited peaceful demonstrations all across the US in front of Tesla dealerships, with protesters voicing their dislike of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and his policies, and the government cuts being enacted by Musks DOGE group.And people are selling their Teslas back, often for significant losses.The vibes are bad in Europe, too largely thanks to Musk boosting Germanys far-right party and making what looked like a Nazi salute. There are widespread protests and a movement for people to buy other types of electric cars. Public opinion is starting to crystalize against Tesla because Musk is the face of the company, and many people arent happy with what hes doing politically. The problem for Tesla (and Musk) is when public opinion has catalyzed against something, it can be very hard to reverse course. And so then the question becomes: Does Elon Musk care about that?Faiz Siddiqui, a Washington Post reporter who has written a book on Musk, told me that Teslas stock is Musks engine. When Musk acquires Twitter or wants to gobble up an AI company, hes not paying cash. Hes using Tesla stock, based on the understanding that thats an incredibly profitable, growing asset. And Musk is going to continue to need a lot of money. Faiz mentioned that the next big thing for Musk seems to be pivoting Tesla to be a robotics and AI company. Those are expensive goals, and if Tesla stock drops too much, that could limit future ambitions. Maybe Musk cares about that.However, maybe he sees that as a price worth paying for being the second most powerful man in the world and some might argue, given his influence on Trump, that he is the most powerful man in the world.Sure, things are rocky for Tesla at the moment, but Musk now has an unprecedented level of access to the American government and power. And he has a giant portfolio SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, Starlink, xAI that is very affected by government contracts and regulations. So maybe it doesnt matter if Tesla incurs great losses if Musk is able to use his position to convince the Federal Aviation Administration to move a $2.4 billion government contract from Verizon to Starlink, which is something the FAA is reportedly at least considering. Perhaps DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) can make his life easier on the regulation front or allow him to learn valuable information about competitors. Its hard to say what Musks end game is, and how secure his position is; there have been some reports of him clashing with other administration officials. But one thing the recent Tesla drama has shown is that things seem inevitable until they dont. Tesla seemed to be on this inevitable glide path to remain one of the most profitable car makers in the world. Now, maybe not. And the same is true with Elon Musk and his political power: Things can rise and fall faster than you might think.This piece originally ran in the Today, Explained newsletter. For more stories like this, sign up here.See More:

GTA 6 needed more than ever as GTA 5 Enhanced is rated worst entryAdam StarkeyPublished March 12, 2025 12:30pmUpdated March 12, 2025 12:31pm Trevor is enhanced (Take-Two)GTA 5 Enhanced is meant to spruce up Rockstars sandbox epic with improvements on PC, but not everyones satisfied with the end result.Its been over 10 years since GTA 5 launched and, despite being from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era, its still one of the most played games on Steam today.GTA 5 has stayed relevant thanks to the popularity of GTA Online and several updated console re-releases over the years. A new version was released in 2022 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and earlier this month, an enhanced version arrived on PC with many of the same features, along with some PC-specific improvements.While GTA 5 Enhanced is free for anyone who bought GTA 5 on PC, the new version hasnt gone down well with some players to the point where it is, at the time of writing, the worst-rated Grand Theft Auto game on Steam.Following its launch on March 4, GTA 5 Enhanced (which has a separate listing on Steam) has a mixed rating with 54% of the total 19,847 reviews being positive.This means it is currently rated lower than any other Grand Theft Auto game on Steam, with even the much derided GTA: The Trilogy The Definitive Edition scoring higher with players, although each game in the collection is listed separately.The next lowest is GTA 3 The Definitive Edition, which has a 66% positive rating based on just over 3,500 reviews.Based on the reviews, the main source of anger appears to be issues with migrating profiles in GTA Online from the Legacy Edition (the new name for the original release) to this Enhanced version. GTA 5 has been given a makeover on PC (Take-Two)Some players are facing error messages which state their account is not eligible for migration at this time, with no explanation as to why. While this might be a case of launch problems, it seems like the issue hasnt been resolved over a week later.More TrendingOthers, however, are miffed at the removal of text chat within GTA Online. This might be a temporary measure though, based on alleged support messages from Rockstar.While GTA 5 Enhanced offers ray-tracing and support for other advanced graphical settings on PC, this means the system requirements are also higher. Anyone who cant run the Enhanced version can simply remain on the Legacy version but, weirdly, there is no crossplay between them, so theres now a divide in the PC playerbase.The intensity of the anger might be pent up frustration from the lack of news concerning GTA 6. Rockstar hasnt released a trailer for the sequel since December 2023 and theres still no indication of when a second one might debut.In its latest financial report, Take-Two insisted GTA 6 is still on track for autumn 2025, but as Rockstar is no stranger to delays, many are worried it might slip into 2026. GTA 6 is still set for 2025 (Rockstar Games)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Donald Trump wants Americans to be nice to Tesla and Elon Muskor feel the wrath of the federal government. Yes, in an effort to quell populist rage at his financial backer, Trump held a press conference Tuesday at which he announced he would be designating violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism. Such a designation could mean incredibly long prison sentences (on par with violent insurrectionists) for people who put a brick through a car dealerships window. Theyre harming a great American company, Trump said, at the press conference. The president also made the bizarre claim that people who vandalize Tesla dealerships are the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage, and were going to catch them. Musk, also in attendance, said: Its really terrible that theres so much violence being created against people like Tesla, Tesla supporters, Tesla owners, Tesla stores. These are innocent people. Musks activities as head of the Department of Government Efficiency have encouraged thousands of people to participate in the Tesla Takedown movement, which has targeted the billionaires company for boycotts and protest, and drawn angry crowds to dealerships across the country. Tesla vehicles and dealerships have also been targeted by random acts of violence. Dealerships have been set on fire, shot at, and had bricks thrown through their windows. As far as can be discerned, these acts of violence are totally unrelated to the Tesla Takedown movement and are just the result of angry Americans blowing off steam at the billionaire who sells the cars.During the same press conference, Trump announced that he would be buying a Tesla, and he and Elon stood in front of one of the vehicles. Later, Trump got into the car and mumbled weird stuff like, Wow, everythings computer! The publicity stunt came off as a flagrant and obvious example of corruption, and critics labeled it a Tesla informercial. It isnt difficult to see why Americans are taking out their anger at Elon on his car company. Through DOGE, Musk has attacked and threatened to destroy a majority of the public services that are dispensed by the federal government, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans services.

Near the end of last year, Samsung announced a whole assortment of new products to refresh their existing line of smartphones, earbuds, and watches. If youre on the hunt for the perfect gift for one of your loved ones, specifically one with an affinity for fitness and receiving texts on their wrists, boy does Samsung have the product for you (to get them). The new Galaxy Watch 7 is available in a couple different sizes, but starts at the price of $300. Right now, its discounted by $60, but you can also trade in your old smartwatch to receive up to $200 in credit toward your purchase of the Galaxy Watch 7. That means you can get this new smartwatch for as low as $100. Sounds crazy, but thats the price.See at SamsungIf you have an old smartwatch youre willing to part with, youll be able to put that toward the cash amount of the new Galaxy Watch 7. A Galaxy Watch 6 will net you $200 toward your purchase. Samsung will even accept non-Samsung trade-ins. If you have an Apple Watch Ultra or Ultra 2, that will also net you $200 off your purchase toward the Galaxy Watch 7. You can also trade in devices from Fitbit, Fossil, and Garmin so you can save a bunch off the top.Your Own Personal Fitness CoachThe news Galaxy Watch 7 is powered by Galaxy AI. When you run or bike, each day will be tracked by Galaxy AI and it can compare your current performance to your last. Youll even receive wellness tips and personalized suggestions as it tracks your progress toward your fitness goals. Galaxy AI also assists in monitoring your workouts with improved heart rate tracking, while ignoring your bodys natural movements to pinpoint a more accurate reading than before.Track your sleeping habits with Galaxy AI and even use it to identify signs of sleep apnea. Additionally, you can see a reading of your overall energy level and physical readiness based on your sleep from the previous night, heart rate, and steps.The Galaxy Watch 7 is for more than just fitness. You can view and respond to texts right at your wrist, and even use Galaxy AI to respond with suggested replies so you can quickly address the conversation and get back to what you were doing.Trying to take some selfies at a distance? No need to set a timer and run into frame. Control your shots with your Galaxy Watch 7. It can tell when you touch your fingers together which will activate the shutter and take your photo for you.Get the Galaxy Watch 7 for as low as $100 after trading in your old smartwatch. Its currently $240 (after the $60 discount) or with a trade-in, you can save up $200. The Galaxy Watch 7 is available in either green or cream and comes in a 40mm model or a 44mm model.See at Samsung